For Their Eyes Only

We’re half way through the offseason. And less than a week away from the resumption of football related activity. Rookie minicamp begins this Friday, May 10th, and lasts three days. A week and a half later, on May 21, the Organized Team Activities begin (or OTAs for you Insider Outsider Upsiders). There’s three of these OTAs: May 21-23, May 28-30, and June 3-6. And lastly, but not leastly, the final offseason practices occur on June 11-13. This last three day session is called a minicamp. The difference between a minicamp and an OTA, other than spelling, is a mystery of the universe that no man should admit knowing the answer to.

Now that I’ve ended the opening paragraph with a preposition, the Funk and Wagnalls secret police will probably show up at my doorstep with razor sharp BICs to gouge out my eyes. But in these days of “u r 2 f**ked 4 wrds bruh,” perhaps the F&W team has retired wearily to the senior citizen center, as Classical English goes the way of Classical Latin.

Before getting too excited about the upcoming practices, it’s pertinent to remember that this is the Jim Harbaugh regime and all of these events will be blacked out. Which means we won’t be hearing the beat reporters telling us “Top draft pick FS Eric Reid is getting burned so badly he’s already being called “Toast” by his teammates and making Craig Dahl look like a pro bowler in comparison.”

I suppose this keeps us from getting HYSTERICAL, leaving the hysteria booth open for Dennis to monopolize, but it still sucks.

Actually, regarding Reid, it doesn’t matter a whole lot whether he’s a solid FS when the season begins. The 49ers are back to being measured by how they fare in the postseason, not how they do in the regular season. Reid has 16 games to get used to the speed of the NFL and he’ll be schooled by the likes of Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, Sam Bradford, and Peyton Manning.

If he’s not shell shocked by the time the team reaches the playoffs, he should be able to hold his own. Besides, those QBs will most likely be looking for whom Donte Whitner is covering and throw to that WR, giving Reid a free ride.

I find myself liking our second 2nd round pick, TE Vance McDonald, before I’ve even seen him play. From descriptions by those who have watched him, he sounds like a Mark Bavaro – Russ Francis type of mugger. Vernon Davis has a clumsy elegance to him, but we need a big, bruising, blue collar head banger, too. Besides, now we’ll have VD and VMcD bracketing the big boys on the O-line. How can that not be lethal?

91 comments on “For Their Eyes Only”

Alex Smith can help the Niners in next year’s draft by achieving 8-8 or better kicking up the draft pick owed from a 3rd rd pick to a second rounder.
Per Peter King of SI the Niners are again in great shape to make an impact in the draft with a motherlode of early choices
“But the Niners, as of this morning, are the only team with six picks in the first three rounds next year — and that comes with an asterisk, as I’ll explain. San Francisco has its own choices in the first three rounds, plus what could be three additional third-rounders. The rundown:

An extra three from Tennessee, from a deal this year in which the Titans traded from 40 to 34 in the second round.

A possible extra three as a compensatory pick for Dashon Goldson signing a rich deal with Tampa Bay, and the 49ers not signing a major free agent on Goldson’s level. If not a third-, then almost certainly a fourth-round pick.

And a third- or second-rounder from Kansas City, the remnant of the Alex Smith deal. Now it can be told: The second draft choice San Francisco will receive from the Smith deal will be K.C.’s second-rounder in 2014 if the Chiefs go 8-8 or better this season. It will be a third-rounder in 2014 if Kansas City is under .500 this season.

So: San Francisco will probably to have a first-, second- and four third-rounders next year. But if the Chiefs surprise, it’ll more likely be a one, two twos and three threes. As we’ve seen, GM Trent Baalke is dangerous with extra picks in his hands. If Colin Kaepernick is very good, the Niners should be annual contenders for years with the picks laid out that way”

Vance McDonald has some upside but his blocking needs to make major strides if he is to earn more than occasional playing time. The good news is, it can be done. Delanie was not much of a blocker when drafted and worked himself up to pretty good.

Everybody seems to be excited about the VMcD pick except me. He is a 270lb slot receiver. Who needs Wes Welker when you have VMcD! He is slow and drops passes, but he makes up for it by not being able to block! Boy howdy, I need to get excited about that!

Me hysterical? Are you saying that I’m afflicted with hysteria or extremely funny? I can live with both. “Hysteria” (2011) tells the story of Dr. Mortimer Granville who treated women diagnosed with “female hysteria” in Victorian London. Using “pelvic message” to cure their affliction, this became a very popular practice with the ladies. But the manual stimulation took its toll on the good doctor’s hands. This lead to Dr. Granville inventing the first electric vibrator. And the rest as they say is history.

Reason #110 (same amount of calories in Bud Light) why it doesn’t pay to be sober. I went for an MRI this morning but it was not a successful journey. Even being on Vicodin and muscle relaxers the pain I incurred by them putting my bum shoulder into the shoulder brace resulted in me having involuntary twitches and movements. Try as I might to remain still, the excruciating pain won over. The only good to come from this is that they recommended that I tell my orthopedic to prescribe me something stronger and/or give me a shot to help me relax when we try again. You can bet your bottom dollar there will be alcohol added to the pain meds. I’ll go into a self-induced coma next time if that’s what it takes.

Shit, had to look up (wink) Dr Granville. He tried to distance himself from the invention. Sears used to sell them in their catalog, but with the advent of motion pictures, and thus the porn industry, they were outlawed when folks saw how women were using them.
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Funny, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia still outlaw the sale of *ahem* Granville’s hammer.

Vance is a brawler Gents.
I liked everything I found on him coming out.
His hands are fine, his speed is fine and, he doesn’t shy away from contact.
Nothing but upside IMO.

Add Marquardt to this OL and look out.
Luke is a converted TE too, don’t forget.
Safe to assume Jackie Slater has taught him the finer side of blocking techniques as well.
We are clearly Drafting athletes with attitude in the Harbaugh regime.

NJ, let’s be honest. Vance’s hands are not fine. He dropped a lot of passes in college. “He doesn’t appear to have smooth, natural hands.” “Vance had a few drops at the Senior Bowl and it seems that they occur when he has to adjust or move off his stationary spot.” “Concentration lapses – generally a good receiver but occasionally allows the easy one through.” “Not sure-handed, struggles with drops.”

It’s OK not to like all of our picks. Berger and I are in the same camp with McDonald. Hoping he works out, but we’re not impressed as it stands now.

This is were Berger usually would chime in and remind me how A.J. Jenkins was wide open all the time in college. 7-11 is always open. Another yr. like his rookie campaign and A.J. will find himself working there.

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Floridian friend, our top three safeties next year are/will be Whitner, Dahl and Reid. I didn’t know they stacked shit that high. That doesn’t even include our horse manure corners. And Fangio with his reluctance to rotate our DL just exacerbates the problem. Incoming. Bombs away.

Del every target drops some passes.
Who was worse than Vernon?
What is impressive about Vance is he looks to do damage when he turns to run.
Vernon still lacks that fluid transition from receiver to runner.
I wouldn’t be too critical of him just yet.
AJ hasn’t caught a single pass and was Drafted much higher as we know.
I think Vance will do just fine.
Brent Jones was no specimen in his time but, he came to play.

Time will tell with any Draftee.
Tank and Lattimore are picks with prior injury concerns so you can have some doubts there certainly but, each guy has the needed ingredient you seek, determination to succeed.
I have no issues with any of our Picks this year.
All of them are football players first.
I see a major upside to what we’ve done with Baalke and Harbaugh.
All the guys they’ve acquired show athleticism and heart.
Can’t teach size, speed and heart.
You can teach them how to get better at what they do between the lines however.

Berger Vance made my List because of his attitude.
He wasn’t the tallest or the fastest but, he never backed down or wilted under pressure.
Unlike Ginn, Vance will fight for an extra yard and do it in traffic.
He did remind me alot of Brent Jones quite frankly.

All kidding aside, I’m in the Quinton Patton camp. I really did like that pick. I don’t know if he’s as wide open as A.J. Jenkins is all the time, but I’ll say Patton has the bigger impact and better production amongst the two as Niners.

Getting back to Vance.
He is damn near identical in size and stats to Eifert.
Also comes in about 15lbs heavier too.
I’ve read comparisons to Todd Heap by some.
Combines comparisons will likely show Vance as a slight favorite too.
4.6/40
31 Reps topped the chart by 7 among TEs, and he’s got got longer arms.
Comes down to production.
We’ll see how he does.
I’m not the least bit concerned.

Screw Sacramento moving to Seattle. The Warriors need to leave town. Worst loss in franchise history. Berger, how many times did I tell you about becoming a W’s fan? I have disowned the Warriors. Only an Alex Smith fan can root for this team.

NJ, Luke Marquardt is a very intriguing and appealing prospect filled with curiosity. If Luke’s fully recovered from his foot injury, he could become a very valuable asset on our OL. Too bad Marquardt wasn’t drafted. He could have taken the distinction away from Christian Okoye as being the last player drafted from that tiny little school just 25 miles east of L.A. East L.A.? I wasn’t born there. Best ask, Cheech. He was born in East L.A.

It’s so easy to be a frontrunner and root for a team that’s winning.
You continually bitch and moan and act like a bandwagon type jumping on and off.
Warriors took out Denver and have gone further than anyone thought.
So shut the phck up or go root for the Fakers if you don’t like it.

Bullit, go kneel, if you have to, so you’re the same height as Tyrion Lannister and blow me. That Warrior’s loss tonight was horrendous, horrific and hateful. They will and shall receive my scorn, scourge and overall shit. The manner in which the Warriors lost was straight out of a Stephen King novel. I hope they all get lost inside of a hedge maze at a Colorado resort in the wintertime. Redrum.

And thanks for nothing for stealing away comment #49. I went from Earl Cooper to Riki Ellison.

Del- It was a devastating loss for the Warriors. If you consider the slide took place when Thompson fouled out it shows the importance of a 2nd quality shooter on the floor. The W’s are so young they have 3 rookies getting major minutes. Jaron Jack needs to stop dribbling until there is 4 seconds on the clock. The W’s need a better point guard next year to get Curry more open shots. This team has the potential to be great with a lock down perimeter defender and a better point guard. They’re missing that and they are too young this year. Be patient, this team is on the rise.

It was ugly, a choke job and hopefully they can learn to close a game out. There are parallels between the W’s and the Niners.
Both have been mediocre and out of the playoff picture for the longest time. Yest their fans have stayed loyal and hung with them (except for certain elements).
W’s knock off Nuggets like the Niners knocked off the Aints last year.
They both are getting new homes and are thriving under new management.
Both teams have dynamic new faces of the org. Niners with Harbaugh and CK and the W’s with Mark Jackson and Steph Curry.
Bigger and brighter things ahead for both teams.

You are right that a key factor was Thompson fouling out.
I also know that Jarret Jack can’t dribble the ball for 20 seconds and take a contested shot.
They lost the game because they
stopped moving the ball around looking the open shooter.
They also miss the low block scoring of David lee that opens up the perimeter for open looks
and the fact that Lee is a superb passer.
When Jefferson miseed his 2 free throws I knew they were approaching doo doo time.
They could’ve used the injured Brandon Rush last night.

Brandon Rush was supposed to be their perimeter defender. I’m not so sure he is a premium defender but he does do a decent job on defense as well as put in a few 3’s here and there.

IMO, the Warriors biggest problem was what you said, they dribbled too much and were trying to run clock instead of working for quality shots. With Thompson in there they could have gotten away with it because SA could not have doubled both Klay and Steph. A better point guard would have saved them too.

When you have a double digit lead you should not be bombing 3 pointers but looking for layups and fouls to get to the line.
Jarret Jack has helped somewhat but he has been schooled as a defender in the playoffs and he wants the money refusing to sign a extension. They should let hi walk.
I’m not sure what Dennis expects when the W’s have 3 rookies in their 8 man rotation.
It’s only Game 1 and I would be surprised if they advanced past San Antonio but don’t trash the team and throw them under the bus no matter how frustrated you are.
If at the start of this season I told you that the W’s would be in the final 8 of the playoffs most W fans would be overjoyed.

i hope you’re right and we get three 3rd round picks next year ! baalke has done a good job setting us up for each draft we’ve had since he’s been GM ! even so i’m not sure if we can crown baalke as ‘dangerous with extra picks in his hands ‘ just yet !
i know , even you feel the strain of the long offseason grinding on sometimes !
for example …

“Niners should be annual contenders for years with the picks laid out ”

NJ/BERGER
TANK imo was a good pickup for us ! baalke added some ends to our rotation so maybe we can get some help in there for justin ! carradine , lemonier and dial all have a chance to help us ! now we’ll see who steps up with dobbs , tokuafu and williams coming back ! i’m still concerned that we lost sopoaga ! not sure who can plug up the middle like sop ! maybe williams ? dorsey ? i like both especially dorsey , but i’m not sure either can command double teams as much as we need them to !

Niners are announcing the naming rights to the new stadium today.
Media speculation is that it will be Levis which is fueled by recent
acquisition of domain names containing Levis and stadium or field. Stay tuned…

My sons are ripping me because I don’t agree with them that Joe Namath doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame. They say his stat’s are equal to Trent Dilfer and Mark Sanchez. So if he’s in they should go in also. Do you guy’s think Namath should be in the Hall? The experts say he changed the game of football. But his stat’s do suck.

They are correct about his stats but stats aren’t the only measuring stick. He is the one that put the AFL haters in their place. He guaranteed a win in SB III and delivered. It changed the game and hastened the NFL-AFL merger. Without that guarantee I’m not sure he makes the HOF, but he did say it and then he backed it up. Dilfer and Sanchez will never be remembered for anything like that.

It has always been a conundrum to compare stats between different eras in sports.
It is a condition of the fantasy football generation to rely too heavily on stats.
HOF Terry Bradshaw career QB rating around 70 and completed 51.9% of his passes 212 TDs and 210 Ints.
Berger is correct because Namath gave the AFL legitimacy and changed the image that they were inferior.

You can’t compare the 60s to the 2000s. 50% completion rates and about a 1:1 td/Int ratio was the norm back in the 60s. QBs called their own plays, and the short passing game was not nearly as prevalent as it is now.
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I will say that if Namath is in, Brodie should be as well.

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